WILLIAMSBURG. A former city of King's County, N. Y., united with Brooklyn in 1855 and now forming part of the borough of Brooklyn in the city of New York.

WILLIAMSBURG.

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The county-seat of James City County, Va., 48 miles east by south of Richmond, on the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad (Map: Virginia, H 4). It is on a peninsula about midway between the James and York rivers, in a region of great historic interest. The chief feature of the city is the William and Mary College (q.v.), the second oldest college in the United States, having been opened in 1693. There is also the Eastern State Hospital for the Insane, erected in 1769. Other features are Bruton Parish Church, dating from 1678 and rebuilt in 1715; the Powder Horn building (1714); the old court house (1769); and Fort Magruder. Williamsburg is the shipping point for the farm and garden produce of the vicinity, and manufactures knit goods, brick, lumber, etc. There are also important fish and oyster interests. Population, in 1890, 1831; in 1900, 2044. liamsburg was settled in 1632, and was called Middle Plantations until 1699. In 1698 it supplanted Jamestown as the capital of Virginia, and in 1722 obtained a city charter, the oldest in the State. Here in 1765 Patrick Henry offered his resolutions against the Stamp Act, and delivered his famous Cæsar-Charles I. speech. In 1779 the capital was removed to Richmond. At Williamsburg, on May 5, 1862, during the Civil War, occurred the first serious engagement of the Peninsular campaign, a part of Magruder's Confederate troops under Longstreet, which had evacuated Yorktown on May 3d, checking the pursuit of a part of the Army of the Potomac, under General Sumner. The fighting began at about 7:30 A.M. and continued during the greater part of the day, gallant though ill-organized attacks being made by Federal divisions under Hooker and Hancock; but neither side gained any decisive advantage, and during the night the Confederates continued their retreat toward Richmond. The Federal loss in killed, wounded, and missing was 2228; the Confederate, as reported by Longstreet, 1560. Consult a sketch of Williamsburg by Lyon G. Tyler in Powell's Historic Towns of the Southern States (New York, 1900); and for the battle, Webb, The Peninsula (New York, 1881), in the Campaigns of the Civil War series.

WILLIAMS COLLEGE. An institution of higher learning at Williamstown, Mass., chartered in 1793. It was developed from a free school established by the will of Col. Ephraim Williams (q.v.). The studies of the Fresh man year are prescribed, with a wide election of courses in the remaining years. Admission is by examination or by certificates from approved schools. A student who is able to anticipate at entrance two college courses may complete the required work in three years. The degrees of B.A. and M.A. are conferred, and partial courses are provided for special students. All examinations are conducted on the honor system. The laboratories are supplied with the best modern appliances. The astronomical department possesses two observatories, the Hopkins and the Field Memorial. Among the other buildings are the Lasell Gymnasium and a college infirmary.

In addition to prizes and honor scholarships, there is a large number of endowments, the income of which, amounting to over $11,000 annually, is available for distribution among needy students. In 1903 the college had an attendance of 423 students and a faculty of 30 instructors. Its endowment was $1,168,708, its income $110,130. The estimated value of the college property was $1,603,833, and of the grounds and buildings $435,125. The college library contained in 1903 50,500 volumes and 17,400 pamphlets. The high rank of Williams as a small college is in large part due to the work and influence of Mark Hopkins (q.v.), who was its president from 1836 to

1872.

WIL'LIAMSON, ALEXANDER WILLIAM (1824). An eminent English chemist, born at Wandsworth, near London. He was prepared for college by private masters, and entered the University of Heidelberg. From Heidelberg he went to Giessen, where he spent several years in chemical research under Gmelin and Liebig. After three years spent in studying higher mathematics at Paris he became, in 1849, professor of practical chemistry in University College, London, and in 1855 was chosen also to fill the chair of pure chemistry in the same institution. A memoir published in 1850 on Etherification and the Constitution of Salts attracted wide attention in the scientific world, and had a great influence on the theories of chemical action. In addition to A Chemistry for Students, which attained considerable recognition, he was the author of memoirs and papers on etherification, the atomic theory, and the composition of gases, in which he advanced new and original views, now generally accepted as distinct contributions to chemical knowledge. He was twice chosen president of the Chemical Society, was president of the British Association in 1873, and was elected a corresponding member of the French Institute. In 1887 he resigned his chairs and was elected professor emeritus.

WILLIAMSON, HUGH (1735-1819). An American physician and legislator. He was born in West Nottingham, Pa., graduated at the College of Philadelphia (now the University of Pennsylvania) in 1757, studied theology and preached for two years (1759-61), was professor of mathematics in the College of Philadelphia from 1760 to 1763, studied medicine at Edinburgh and Utrecht, and subsequently attained eminence as a physician in Philadelphia. He visited the West Indies (1772) and England

(1773) in behalf of the Newark (Del.) Academy, and in February, 1774, was examined on colonial matters by the Privy Council. After spending some time on the Continent, he removed first to South Carolina and then to North Carolina. He served as surgeon in the North Carolina militia in 1780-82, was a member of the Continental Congress from 1782 to 1785 and in 1787-88, was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 and to the State convention, which ratified the Federal Constitution in 1789, and was a member of Congress from 1790 to 1793, when he removed to New York City. He published several essays on Paper Currency (1786); a Discourse on the Benefits of Civil History (1810); Observations on the Climate of

America (1811); and a History of North Carolina (1812).

WILLIAMSON, WILLIAM CRAWFORD (181695). An English naturalist, born at Scarborough. In 1834 he presented his first work on the Mesozoic fossils of his native district to the London Geological Society. He became curator of the Manchester Natural History Society Museum in 1835. He finished his medical course at University College, London, in 1841. He was instrumental in founding the Manchester Institute for diseases of the ear in 1855 and was consulting surgeon there. From the founding of Owens College at Manchester in 1851 until 1892 he held the chair of botany. In zoology he made valuable investigations of the development of the teeth and bones of fishes; in geology he studied the zones of distribution of Mesozoic fossils and the part played by microscopic organisms in the formation of marine deposits; and by his work on the structure of fossil plants established British paleobotany on a scientific basis. His Reminiscences of a Yorkshire Naturalist (1896) contains a nearly complete bibliography of his writings.

WILLIAMSON FREE SCHOOL OF MECHANICAL TRADES. An educational insti

tution at Williamson School Station, Pa., 16 miles from Philadelphia, founded in 1888 by Isaiah V. Williamson for the education of poor and deserving boys. Candidates for admission must be between sixteen and eighteen years of age, preference being given in the following order: to natives of Philadelphia; of Bucks, Montgomery, and Delaware coun

ties; of other parts of Pennsylvania; of New Jersey; of other States. The school is only for pupils who intend to follow for a livelihood the trades there acquired. After a mode rate preliminary trial all who prove satisfactory are bound as indentured apprentices to the trustees for the term of three years from their entrance. In addition to the academic training, the following trades are taught, the selection being made by the trustees, and each scholar taking but one trade: carpentering, bricklaying, machine trade, pattern-making, steam and electrical engineering. The school and shops are in session eight hours a day for five days a week and three hours on Saturday, the proportion of shop work gradually increasing toward the close of the apprenticeship. The school term continues the entire year. The pupils live in families of 24 in distinct cottages. In 1904 the school had 11 instructors, 212 students, a library of 2500 volumes, an endowment of $2.250,000, and an income of 98,000. The buildings were valued at $380,000.

WIL'LIAMSPORT. The county-seat of Lycoming County, Pa., 94 miles north by west of Harrisburg, on the West Branch of the Susquehanna River, and on the Philadelphia and Reading, the Northern Central the Philadelphia and Erie, and other railroads (Map: Pennsylvania, D 2). It is in a region of attractive scenery, and is well laid out. Among the prominent features are Dickinson Seminary, the city hall, the United States Government building, the Masonic Temple, the Scottish Rite Cathedral, and the Home for the Friendless. There are four parks, Brandon and

Vallamont, within the city limits, and Starr Island and Sylvian Dell within easy reach by trolley and steamboat service. Williamsport has for a long time been known for its extensive lumber interests. It is also an important coalmining and industrial centre. In the census year 1900 the various manufacturing industries had $9,863,811 capital, and an output valued at $11,199,600. Aside from the numerous lumber establishments, there are large clothing factories, foundries and machine shops, tanneries, f :rniture factories, dye works, silk mills, and manufactories of boilers and engines, boots and shoes, mirrors, sandpaper, wire rope, building, paving, and fire brick, stacks, tanks, band instruments, nails, radiators, sewing machines, woolen goods, heaters, gas and gasoline engines, pumps, etc. The government is vested in a mayor, chosen every three years, and a bicameral council. subordinate officials, the majority are elected by the council. The board of education, however, is chosen by popular vote. Founded in 1795 by Michael Ross, Williamsport became the countyseat in the same year, and was incorporated as a borough in 1806, and as a city in 1866. In 1850 it had a population of only 1615, but in that year the development of the lumber trade began, and the subsequent growth of the city was rapid. Population, in 1890, 27,132; in 1900, 28,757.

WILLIAMSTOWN.

Of the

A town in Victoria, Australia, 9 miles southwest of Melbourne, on Port Phillip Bay (Map: Australia, G 6). It is interested in shipbuilding. Basalt and coal are mined in the vicinity. Population, in 1901, 14,

083.

WILLIAMSTOWN. A town, including sev eral villages, in Berkshire County, Mass., 5 miles west of North Adams, on the Green River, and on the Boston and Maine Railroad (Map: Massachusetts, A 2). It is the seat of Williams College (q.v.), opened in 1793. Other features include the public library and Mission Park. Although primarily a residential place, Williamstown has a bleaching establishment, a cotton mill, and large freight yards. Market gardening is an important industry. The government is administered by town meetings. Williamstown was permanently settled in 1753 and was called West Hoosic until 1765, when it was incorporated under its present name, given in honor of Colonel Ephraim Williams. Population, in 1890, 4221; in 1900, 5013. Consult: Perry, Origins in Williamstown (New York, 1894); id., Williamstown and Williams College (Norwood, Mass., 1899).

WIL'LIBRORD, WIL'BRORD, or WIL' BROD, SAINT (c.658-739). The apostle of the Frisians.' He was born in the Kingdom of Northumbria, and began his education at the monastery at Ripon, near York. At the age of twenty he was sent to the schools of Ireland. After a sojourn of twelve years in that country, he resolved to devote himself to the conversion of Friesland. In 690 he sailed with eleven companions, and arrived soon after the victory of Pepin of Herstal over the Frisians. They were warmly received by Pepin. Willibrord, having established the first beginnings of his mission, went to Rome in 692, whence he returned, with the sanction of the Pope, Sergius I., and continued his labor till 695, when he again

visited Rome, and received episcopal consecration, together with the pallium of an archbishop. Fixing his see at Utrecht, he converted a large number of the inhabitants, and, although he received some check upon the death of Pepin in 714, yet the successes of Charles Martel enabled him soon afterwards, under similar favorable auspices, to resume the work, which, after many alternations, ended in the successful establishment of Christianity. Willibrord died in 739 at the monastery which he had founded at Echternach, near Trèves. His festival is November 7th. His Life was written by Alcuin (Eng. trans., London, 1877).

WIL'LIMAN TIC. A city in Windham County, Conn., 16 miles northwest of Norwich, on the Natchaug River, and on the New York, New Haven and Hartford and the Central Vermont railroads (Map: Connecticut, G 3). It is the seat of a State normal training school, and has a public library with more than 5000 volumes and the Dunham Hall Library. The city is favored with excellent water power, and is noted for the manufacture of cotton thread. Other important products are cotton goods, silk goods, and fine machinery. The government, under the revised charter of 1896, is vested in a mayor, chosen every two years, and a bicameral council. The water-works are owned and operated by the municipality. First settled about 1822, Willi mantic was incorporated as a borough in 1833, and became a city in 1893. Population, in 1890, 8648; in 1900, 8937.

WIL'LING, THOMAS (1731-1821). An American merchant and financier. He was born in Philadelphia, was educated at Bath, Eng., and in the Temple, London, and, returning to Philadelphia, organized, with Robert Morris (q.v.), the famous mercantile firm of Willing & Morris, which, during the Revolutionary War, supplied naval and military stores to the Govern ment. After holding various less important positions, he was elected Mayor of Philadelphia in 1763, was an associate justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court from 1767 to 1774, was a member of the Pennsylvania Committee of Correspondence, was a delegate to the Assembly in 1775, and was a member of the Continental Congress in 1775-76. In 1780 he, with several associates, organized the Pennsylvania Bank as a means of procuring supplies for the Continental Army, he himself subscribing £5000. He was president of the Bank of North America from 1781 to 1792, and was the first president of the Bank of the United States, organized in 1791. WIL'LIS, BAILEY (1857-). An American geologist, born at Idlewild-on-Hudson. He graduated in 1878 at the Columbia School of Mines, of Columbia University, and from 1879 to 1881 was expert on iron ores for the Tenth Census. In 1881-84 he was geologist of the Northern transcontinental survey, undertaken by the Northern Pacific Railway and other companies; subsequently he was appointed geologist of the United States Geological Survey, in charge of the Appalachian division, and afterwards of the Cascade Range and Puget Sound division. He edited the Geologic Atlas of the United States, and published many technical papers.

WILLIS, NATHANIEL PARKER (1806-67). An American author, born in Portland, Maine.

He graduated at Yale College in 1827, where, as an undergraduate, he became known as a writer of religious verse. Some of these verses were published in a book, Sketches (1827). For S. G. Goodrich (q.v.), of Boston, he edited two annuals, The Legendary (1828) and The Token (1829). In the latter year Willis established at Boston The American Monthly Magazine; this in 1831 was merged with the New York Mirror, of which he became associate editor. From 1831 to 1836 he traveled in Europe and Asia Minor and contributed sketches to the Mirror, which were later published in Pencillings by the Way (3 vols., 1835). On his return to America he conducted a short-lived weekly journal, The Corsair (183940), and later two papers of brief existence, The New Mirror (1843-44) and The Evening Mirror (1844-45). In 1845 he went again to Europe, returning in 1846. The same year he established The Home Journal, which occupied him until his death at his estate, "Idlewild," near Newburg, N. Y. His published works include: Inklings of Adventure (1836, 3 vols.); Loiterings of Travel (1840, 3 vols.); Lady Jane, and Other Poems (1844); People I Met (1850); Life Here and There (1850); Hurry-graphs, or Sketches of Scenery, Celebrities, and Society (1851); A Summer Cruise in the Mediterranean on Board an American Frigate (1853); A Health Trip to the Tropics (1853); Famous Persons and Places (1854); Out-Doors of Idlewild (1855); The Rag-bag, a Collection of Ephemera (1855); Paul Fane (1856), a novel; The Convalescent (1859); and appeared in 1868. His work was ready, fluent, others, chiefly prose. His complete poems light, graceful, and various, in the main that of a dilettante, and it was exceedingly popular during Willis's lifetime, but is without enduring character. Some of his Scriptural poems and society verses are still read, and his prose yields interesting sketches of contemporaries. Willis was generous to contemporary authors, but made many hostile critics by his indiscreetly personal tone of writing. There is a Life by H. A. Beers in the "American Men of Letters Series" (1885).

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WILLIS, ROBERT (1800-75). An English archæologist and professor of mechanism, born in London. He graduated at Caius College, Cambridge, in 1826, was soon afterwards elected Frankland fellow and in 1829 foundation fellow. After his graduation he gave his attention chiefly to mechanism, and in 1837 he was chosen Jacksonian professor of applied mechanics at Cambridge. Meanwhile he devoted his spare time to the study of architecture and archæology, and his Remarks on the Architecture of the Middle Ages (1835) won a high place among works on the In 1844 he became a member of the subject.

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newly organized Archæological Institute, before which he delivered some of his most important lectures. Among his publications are: ciples of Mechanism (1841); Architectural History of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem (1849); The Architectural History of the Conventual Buildings of the Monastery of Christ Church, Canterbury (1869); and a series of lectures on the English cathedrals delivered

between 1844 and 1865.

WILLIS, THOMAS (1621-75). An English anatomist and physician, born at Great Bedwin,

Wiltshire. He was graduated in 1839 at Oxford, where he began practice in 1846. He fought as a Royalist in the Revolution, studied medicine during the Protectorate, and at the Restoration was made Sedleian professor of natural philosophy at Oxford. He afterwards settled in London, where he became a founder of the Royal Society, and in 1666 he became physician in ordinary to Charles II. Willis made important medical discoveries concerning the brain. A system of connecting arteries at the base of the brain is called the 'circle of Willis' after him. It is claimed that he first suggested the possibility of localization of function in the brain, and published two treatises on the subject: Anatomy of the Brain (1664) and Pathology of the Brain and Nervous System (1667). He was buried in Westminster Abbey. Besides many other works, he published Cerebri Anatome, cui Accessit Nervorum Descriptio et Usus (London, 1664); Pathologia Cerebri, etc. (Amsterdam, 1668); Affectionum quæ Dicuntur Hysterica et Hypochondriaca Pathologia Spasmodica Vindicata (Leyden, 1671); and De Anima Brutorum (London, 1672). His complete works, Opera Omnia, were published in Geneva (1676), and a translation into English in London (1684).

WILL'MAR. The county-seat of Kandiyohi County, Minn., 90 miles west of Minneapolis, on the Great Northern Railroad (Map: Minnesota, C 5). It is the shipping point of a farming and stock-raising section, and has grain elevators, brick works, a creamery, and manufactories of flour, gasoline engines, lumber products, etc. Willmar Seminary is here; and there are a handsome court-house, public library (Carnegie), and public parks. The water-works and the electric light plant are owned by the municipality. Population, in 1890, 1825; in 1900, 3409.

WILL'MORE, JAMES TIBBITS (1800-63). An English engraver, born at Handsworth, Staffordshire. He studied engraving under Radclyffe in Birmingham and under Charles Heath in London. He was made an associate of the Royal Academy in 1843. In execution he was clever and forceful, and his tone and shading are remarkably good. Among his prints are many from Turner, e.g. "Mercury and Argus" and "Ancient Italy;" also some from Eastlake, Landseer, Stanfield, and Creswick.

WILL O' THE WISP. See IGNIS FATUUS. WILLOUGHBY, wil'ô-bi, Sir HUGH (1500?54?). An English Arctic explorer. He was born at Risby, Derbyshire, and was knighted for his services in the expedition to Scotland in 1544. In 1553 he was made admiral of a fleet of three vessels sent out at the expense of the merchants of London with license from Edward VI. "to discover strange countries and a northeastern passage to Cathay and India." The vessels took out 136 persons, of whom 18 were merchants having a share in the expenses of the expedition. In July, 1553, a storm on the coast of Norway dispersed the fleet. Two of the ships went into the harbor of Arzina, in Lapland, where the crews and passengers perished during the rigors of the winter, the ships and bodies being found some years later together with Willoughby's journal and will. The third vessel was wrecked, but a few of her crew escaped to Archangel.

WILLOW (AS. welig, of uncertain etymology), Salix. A genus of plants of the natural order Salicaceæ. The flowers are naked, the stamens from one to five in number, the leaves simple and deciduous. There are fully 160 species, but their precise number is not likely to be soon determined, as varieties are very numerous and many hybrids are known to exist. They are mostly natives of the colder temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, although some are found in warm countries, as Salix tetrasperma in the hottest parts of India. Most of them are

SHINING-LEAVED WILLOW (Salix lucida).

shrubs, and some are of very humble growth, particularly those of Arctic and Alpine regions. Thus, Salix herbacea, which is common on the mountains of Scotland and farther north, seldom rises more than an inch from the ground. Salix arctica and Salix polaris are the most northern woody plants. Other small species are also found at the limits of perpetual snow in various countries. Some of those which more generally receive the popular name willow are trees of large size and remarkably rapid growth. The wood of some of them, as the white willow or Huntingdon willow (Salix alba), and the crack Willow (Salix fragilis), is used for many purposes, being remarkably light and soft, but tough and durable, especially in damp situations. Corkcutters and others employ it for whetting sharpedged implements. It is used for making paddles of steamboats, because it wears better in water than any other kind of wood. Willows are often planted as ornamental trees, especially near streams and in moist grounds. Many kinds are also planted on the banks of rivers to retain the soil in its place and restrain the encroachment of the water. They are peculiarly adapted for this purpose, as they grow readily from cuttings. Willow stakes driven into a moist soil strike root, and soon become luxuriant.

The twigs of most of the willows are very tough and flexible, and are used by coopers for making hoops, and by gardeners for tying large plants. They are much used for basket-making and other kinds of wicker work. (See OSIER.) Willow